When do you start testing your children and how?

[catherine smith]

I have a first grader, she's a pretty good student, but really doesn't have great motivation as far as a need to remember things. I haven't been testing her formally, but wondered when this starts and if it would be a good motivaiton factor. Any advice?

[Unicorn.]

Are you somewhere where you have to test? If not, I wouldn't worry about it with a first grader. I'm in Tx, we don't have to test, so we don't.

[Mrs Mungo]

I have a first grader, she's a pretty good student, but really doesn't have great motivation as far as a need to remember things. I haven't been testing her formally, but wondered when this starts and if it would be a good motivaiton factor. Any advice?

 

You can start as early as you like. The CAT is pretty simple, cheap and has few requirements. I would never try to use it as a motivator, that's not the purpose or intent of testing.

[DawnL]

In Washington state, we're not required until 8 years old. My oldest is in public school, for now, so I don't need to worry abut her yet. My DS6 is the only one I'm homeschooling right now. We don't have to worry about it for a couple of years.

[AngieW in Texas]

I'm in Texas. We don't have to test, but I have tested every year since 3rd grade anyway with the ITBS test.

 

My middle desperately needed the practice of taking the test every year. She has fine motor issues, so just filling in the little circles was a challenge for her. I had to fix her circles every year until 7th grade. That's when she finally mastered the art of coloring in the circles. It took her until about then to learn how to deal with the anxiety part of the testing. By 8th grade, she had decided that despite the anxiety, testing was actually fun.

 

My poor youngest has been extensively tested because of her dyslexia. She had a bunch of testing for her vision issues when she started vision therapy in 1st grade, her first evaluation with the ps at the start of 2nd grade, testing with me (ITBS) at home in 3rd grade, testing with a tutor in 4th grade, testing with the ps at the end of 4th grade, testing with me (ITBS) in 6th grade.

[ElizabethB]

Since we're military and may have to test eventually, I want to get my children used to it, I give the ITBS yearly. I start in K, so my son will start testing next year.

 

I find it fascinating to see what my daughter can and cannot do that she hasn't been taught yet, it's not always what one would predict. That helps me figure out what to do lightly the next year and what to spend more time on and teach explicitly.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I have a first grader, she's a pretty good student, but really doesn't have great motivation as far as a need to remember things. I haven't been testing her formally, but wondered when this starts and if it would be a good motivaiton factor. Any advice?

 

 

We live in a state that doesn't require testing, but I test every year, for my own purposes.

 

I have a software program that I gave my older kids for first and second grade. It's fun and interactive, and gave a general idea where they were. Unfortunately, I don't think you can get the exact same software anymore. There might be something similar, though.

 

Starting at 3rd grade, I administered the ITBS. In 6th and 7th, I gave my dd the Stanford, just as a comparison with the ITBS.

[~FireFly~]

Hey, chica :o) just sent you a message.

and I agree I wouldn't test in the early years, either. However, if a young child 'wants' to be 'tested' I'd make up one. You know, for the child who has to experience things. Our middle (ds17) had to have tests b/c his older brother had them. So, I'd give him one, made it very serious, not pressured, but serious. That way he knew he was getting a 'real' test and later when he actually had rests he took them seriously.

 

I think his first test was a coloring book page, or wrtiing all the letters of the alphabet.

 

Good luck.

 

~S

[Blue Lilac Studio]

I tested my oldest beginning in 3rd grade, and I noticed that the 2nd year she was much more comfortable with the testing process. So I started testing all 4 kids using the CAT/5, beginning with the youngest when they were in Kindergarten. It's a pain to administer to 4 kids, but I want them to be very comfortable with the testing process by the time they take the SATs.

[EKS]

I wouldn't use standardized testing as a motivation tool. That said, I started testing my kids when they're old enough to read the test well, which for my older son was in 3rd grade and for my younger son was in kindergarten.

 

I used the PASS test (Hewitt) for a few years with the older one because it is an untimed test and then switched to the Iowa. I've always used the Iowa with my younger one. I think the Iowa is a much better test overall. FWIW, the Iowa is untimed for grades K-2 (except for the math computation part). So if you're thinking of testing, starting now with the gentler K-2 version would give you two years to get comfortable with testing before the timed grade 3+ version.

[sleepymommy]

In my state, tests or evaluations are required starting in 1st grade. This is when I will start.

[Starr]

I like the Pass tests. They are easy to give, untimed, and okayed by our state regulations. I find that testing tells me what I already know. I waited until they were a bit older to test. We were part of homeschool group that provided some other testing early on.

[mcconnellboys]

I didn't begin formal testing until second grade and I generally pick up Spectrum or another test practice book to go over with them at least a little before the testing so that they know what to expect.

 

I begin doing some testing at home during logic stage in order to get mine more prepared for high school/college level work.

 

While I did weekly spelling tests with both of mine from the start, my little guy was a terrible speller to begin with, so I did most of his orally, allowed for the mistakes and just kept plugging along (he's now a pretty darn good speller, too!)

[Aludlam]

Is there a place I can find a listing of these test along with a description? My dd is in 2nd grade. Our state does not require testing, but as a first time homeschooler, I'm really interested in finding out "where" we are academically.

 

thanks

Angela

[mcconnellboys]

BJU Press offers Stanford testing, but you can not test your own children alone, without others. Rainbow Resource may offers CATS testing, and I think BJU Press does, as well. I believe you can obtain single tests of this source and administer it yourself to only your own children.

 

You might also google CATS testing, Stanford testing, etc. and find other sources for them, online. Many homeschool groups offer group testing each year, so you might also check with any groups in your area.

[Aubrey]

I just tested mine this week for the first time. I'd sort-of planned to start testing in 3rd g, & go maybe every other yr or so. I can't remember what I'd chosen, but we haven't had the $, so I just printed a TAKS test online for free--that's the state test for Tx. I have a hs'ing neighbor who does the same.

 

Anyway, I told ds on Mon that we'd be testing him sometime in the next week. He got so excited that he begged to do it that same day, so *shrug* we did. Then dd (1st g) wanted to take the test, too. Ds did the math & the reading tests; I gave dd the reading test only. TAKS starts w/ 3rd g, so that's what they both got.

 

Afterward, dd told me how much fun it was "because it had such interesting stories!" :lol:

 

I forgot to add: they both passed the tests they were given just fine, but ds had trouble w/ the $ sections of the math test, so we spent the next day playing Monopoly w/ real $ ($1 bills instead of $100).

[robsiew]

I think you will get lots of different answers! Most of them will go back to educational philosophy or (in our case) the law.

 

We have to start testing at age 7 here. I used the ITBS last year for ds and will use it again this year for my older two.

 

I have to say though, if I didn't have to test, I would not. First of all, being my child's teacher (and parent) I am aware of what they know and what they don't. I see their strengths and weaknesses every day. The only thing a test will tell me is how they performed on that particular test at that particular time.

 

Second, the scope and sequence of classical curriculum (at least most of what we use) does not necessarily line up with what test designers have in store for my children. So, more often than not, my child's score is not based on what he/she knows... it's based on how well he/she can take a test. It pains me to hear of teachers in PS merely teaching to a test and nothing else. :banghead:

 

Give me a test that actually tests my children on what we studied this year and I may feel differently!

 

I see very little value in standardized tests.... thankfully we do not have to report our scores so we just take it to follow the law and then forget about it. So, if I were you I'd skip it (especially this year).

 

Ahem... stepping down.... :rant:

[hillfarm]

I tested my dd when she was in the first grade. We are not required to test so I did it for my information only. I used the ITBS test. I told her that it was like a game, to see whether the authors of the test could trick her or whether she could find the correct answer. She loved that and worked with great enthusiasm.

 

Since the test was for my own use only, I wasn't all that strict about the details. For example, if she wanted to take a bathroom break between sections, we stopped. If she wanted to take a section while laying on the floor on her tummy, I had no objections. At one point, I remember looking over to see her holding the pencil to her stuffed rabbit's paw and letting Bunny take that part of the test. So basically, no nerves at all and no pressure.

 

The result of that atmosphere was that in subsequent years, when the test was due to come in the mail, dd would ride her bike down our drive to look for it. If it was there, she would come zooming back to the house, shouting, "It's here! It's here! Can we start right now?" She loved taking the ITBS test.:001_huh:

 

Her scores were very high and she still has no test anxiety at all. We have since moved to a portfolio review since our scope and sequence no longer line up well with the tests and she has remarked more than once that she misses it.

 

Out of the mouths of babes, though... She also commented that the test was so much easier than the portfolio review. I asked her why and she responded that she only had to know the test information and really apply herself on that one day to do well on it. With the portfolio review, she explained, she had to do great work every single day because she never knew which work the reviewing teacher might select to check. If an 8yo can figure that out, why does it seem to be such a tough concept for school administrators?